On the Ark.

Chapter 415 Invitation to the Seminar (3K)

For the next period of time, things were calm on the island.

Perhaps it was because Lin Ye had encountered so many frustrating situations after starting his job that he found himself somewhat bored when he had nothing to do for extended periods. After all, he had hardly had any leisurely days like this since coming to this world; even during his time as a veterinarian in Chernobog, he was exhausted from the demanding work.

Ugh, this is so boring.

Sitting in the chair, Lin Ye gazed at the blue sky outside the window, lost in thought.

Should he text Skadi to bother her? It's been so long since they last saw each other; not even a message seems a bit much. But wouldn't that make him seem idle? He didn't want Skadi to think of him as someone who just lazes around on the island all day, that didn't fit his positive and proactive persona…

"Senior." While Lin Ye was lost in thought, Eyjafjalla's voice came from outside the door, "May I come in?"

Lin Ye turned his head and saw Eyjafjalla and her little black sheep standing at the door.

"Yes, of course, no problem. Come on in." Lin Ye warmly greeted Eyjafjalla.

With Lin Ye's permission, Eyjafjalla entered. She was indeed a very polite child. Then she asked Lin Ye, "Senior, are you reading? Have I disturbed you?"

"Yes, I was reading." Lin Ye quickly picked up the book on the table, shook off the dust, and then said calmly, "I was just taking notes, but don't worry, you didn't bother me."

“Really?” Eyjafjalla said. “You’re really diligent, senior.”

diligent……

Hearing this word from Eyjafjalla's lips wouldn't make Lin Ye feel proud, but rather ashamed. Because his diligence was feigned, while Eyjafjalla's was genuine. After returning to the island, due to her illness, Kal'tsit didn't assign Eyjafjalla any work, only requiring her to cooperate with the medical department's treatment. However, her illness couldn't be cured quickly; it required gradual recuperation. Therefore, Eyjafjalla was currently in a state of rest and recovery without work.

However, Eyjafjalla's way of recuperating was quite different from what Lin Ye knew about recuperation. At Lin Ye's invitation, Eyjafjalla would come to his office every day to read. Because of her poor eyesight, she couldn't see some of the small print in the books clearly and had to rely on Lin Ye's help. But at the time, Lin Ye had no idea that Eyjafjalla would be so diligent.

On the first day, while Lin Ye was still sleeping in as usual, Eyjafjalla had already arrived at his office. However, without a key, she couldn't get in, and she had no way to contact Lin Ye, so she sat alone in the corridor (with her little black sheep), quietly reading a book. It wasn't until noon, when Lin Ye leisurely arrived at his office, that he realized how grave his sins were.

That day he asked Eyjafjalla why she didn't rest in another room, since not all the rooms were locked.

Eyjafjalla replied, "It's impolite to enter someone else's room without permission, and I'm afraid of causing trouble for my seniors."

Lin Ye felt as if he had been stabbed in the chest.

Then he asked why he didn't go to Zilan, since Zilan had his contact information.

Eyjafjalla replied, "I'm afraid my senior has something important to do, which is why she can't be at work on time. I can't disturb her."

Lin Ye felt as if he had been stabbed in the chest again.

Finally, he asked, "Since you've noticed I haven't been here for so long, why don't you go back to your dorm and rest first?"

Eyjafjalla replied, "Because I made a promise with my senior, I can't break it."

Lin Ye felt his chest... well, it had been stabbed open.

At that time, he felt that the simple and kind Eyjafjalla was like the shining sun, illuminating his laziness and decadence. After that day, Lin Ye also went to work on time. No, it can't be said that he went to work on time. To be precise, he was sitting in the office half an hour early, so that Eyjafjalla wouldn't be unable to find him when she arrived.

However, arriving at work on time wasn't enough; sitting in the same office, Lin Ye felt that Eyjafjalla's radiance was even more dazzling.

Eyjafjalla practically treated this place as her study room, arriving early every day to read and take notes. Unless Lin Ye initiated conversation, Eyjafjalla would never chat with him, simply sitting quietly on the sofa. Her little black sheep remained silent, obediently nestled beside their owner. All Lin Ye could hear throughout the day was the soft scratching of her pen across paper.

This is... a bit too much effort, it's even more exaggerated than when he was preparing for the college entrance exam.

Influenced by Eyjafjalla, Lin Ye also tried reading, even borrowing a whole bunch of psychology books from Zilan. However, he simply couldn't concentrate on reading these kinds of books for a whole day; often, after an hour or two, he was practically exhausted. So, in the end, he could only pretend to be engrossed in reading while secretly playing on his phone under the books. Although phones in this world couldn't do much, at least he could browse the internet, giving Lin Ye a taste of the thrill of playing on his phone right under his homeroom teacher's nose back in the day.

So why would a little girl who is less than 1.5 meters tall bring him the same pressure as a homeroom teacher?

Is this the brilliance of diligence?

Lin Ye felt ashamed of himself.

Just as Lin Ye was pondering how to pass the time today, he suddenly noticed a black envelope tucked inside Eyjafjalla's book.

"Hmm? Has someone written you a letter?" Lin Ye asked.

"Oh? You mean this?" Eyjafjalla took out the envelope and handed it to Lin Ye. "This is the invitation."

"An invitation?" Lin Ye took it. "Is it alright for me to see this?"

“Of course not,” Eyjafjalla said with a smile. “You’re a senior.”

"Hmm... since you've already called me senior, it's even less appropriate for me to interfere in your private affairs." Lin Ye smiled and handed the envelope back. "If you'd like, just tell me."

“Alright.” Eyjafjalla took the envelope back and said, “This is an academic seminar about natural disasters, and the organizers have invited me to attend.”

"An academic seminar? Would you be invited?"

“Yes.” Eyjafjalla nodded and said, “Because I published a few papers, and they saw them.”

He's published several papers... He's definitely a high achiever.

"Do you want to go?" Lin Ye asked.

“Of course I want to. No, I should say I have to go,” Eyjafjalla said seriously. “I shouldn’t miss a single academic seminar related to natural disasters. Gathering experts from various disciplines will allow me to better understand natural disasters and will also help me to carry out my research better, so I definitely have to go.”

"But Saria won't allow you to leave the island anymore, right?" Lin Ye asked. "What are you going to do?"

A look of hesitation crossed Eyjafjalla's beautiful face, but it quickly turned into determination: "If Miss Saria doesn't allow it, I'll just sneak out!"

Sure enough.

Lin Ye sighed softly, thinking that even the most obedient girl has her own stubbornness.

Eyjafjalla noticed the change in Lin Ye's expression and asked somewhat nervously, "Will what I'm doing cause trouble for you, senior?"

"Hmm? Of course not... If I said yes, you wouldn't go?"

"This..." Eyjafjalla's expression immediately became conflicted. She stammered, "I... I don't want to cause trouble for you, senior, but... but I really can't miss the seminar..."

Seeing Eyjafjalla's conflicted expression, Lin Ye couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't worry, how could you possibly cause me any trouble?" Lin Ye reached out and ruffled Eyjafjalla's hair. He had to admit, Eyjafjalla's hair felt wonderful; touching it was like touching the little black sheep around her. "But if you go alone, can you take care of yourself?"

Seeing that she wouldn't cause Lin Ye any trouble, Eyjafjalla breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "I can take care of myself."

"I feel like your words aren't very convincing," Lin Ye asked again. "Where is the seminar located?"

"Dragon Gate".

Lin Ye raised an eyebrow: "Longmen?"

“Yes.” Eyjafjalla nodded again. “Yes, this natural disaster seminar was organized by the Lungmen government and was spearheaded by Mr. Wei Yanwu.”

It's Longmen again.

Lin Ye thought to himself, "Terra is so vast, and Lungmen is so small, yet it seems that everything, big or small, is connected to this place. It's truly an amazing place." Speaking of Lungmen, Lin Ye also realized that he seemed to have something very important to do.

That means going to Penguin Logistics and asking if they can help procure the secret medicine from Dongguo.

Although he could ask on his phone—after all, he had Exusiai's number—he still wanted to go in person. There was only one reason: it wasn't just Eyjafjalla who wanted to leave Rhodes Island; Lin Ye did too. Eyjafjalla wanted to complete her research, while Lin Ye wanted to confirm whether he had been used as a test subject and "captured" by Rhodes Island.

He was indeed willing to donate his blood to develop a cure for Oripathy, but he didn't want to become a guinea pig, forever confined to Rhodes Island, unable to venture out. He absolutely could not tolerate such a life, especially since Kal'tsit had reduced his workload, which only reinforced this feeling.

In his previous life, he only lived for a little over twenty years due to heart disease, so in this life, Lin Ye is determined to live according to his own ideas.

There weren't any good reasons before, but now there are.

Lin Ye smiled and said to Eyjafjalla, "Don't run away, I'll go and tell them for you."

"Huh?" Eyjafjalla didn't react immediately. "What did you ask me to say?"

“Attend the seminar,” Lin Ye said. “I’ll go with you.”

Chapter 416 Kal'tsit's Request (3K)

After learning the seminar schedule from Eyjafjalla, Lin Ye didn't waste much time and found Kal'tsit, who hadn't left Rhodes Island yet, the next day. Using the excuse of searching for Penguin Logistics and accompanying Eyjafjalla to the seminar, he asked Kal'tsit if he could leave Rhodes Island for Lungmen.

After hearing Lin Ye's words, Kal'tsit did not immediately respond. Instead, she remained silent for a while before slowly speaking: "If I told you that I could help you contact Penguin Logistics without leaving Rhodes Island, and that I could also send a more reliable operator to accompany you to Eyjafjalla, would you still give me any other excuses?"

As soon as Kal'tsit spoke, Lin Ye knew that Kal'tsit had guessed his meaning. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart that Kal'tsit was indeed no ordinary person, and there was a reason why she could become the highest-ranking person in Rhodes Island.

So Lin Ye didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "I've been on the island for a while, so I wanted to go out and relieve my boredom."

Kal'tsit gave a faint smile: "Feeling bored again now? Just a few months ago you were complaining to me that even though you're an island-based operator, you're often sent out on dangerous missions for various reasons, and you told me you wanted to rest. What, are you tired of resting now?"

Lin Ye suddenly felt a little embarrassed, because he had indeed complained to Kal'tsit before, roughly saying that he was just a psychiatrist, so why did he have to do so much inexplicable work, and that he hoped Kal'tsit could let him get some rest. At that time, he never imagined that one day Kal'tsit would use his own words to refute him.

Fortunately, he was thick-skinned enough that after coughing twice, he was able to say without batting an eye, "Things have changed. Now I feel like I'm a useless person with nothing to do. I guess you've taken all my jobs away from me."

Lin Ye originally thought Kal'tsit would deny it, but Kal'tsit did not and admitted it directly.

“Indeed,” Kal'tsit said calmly. “Logically speaking, you must have a lot of work to do on the island. After all, I paid you such a high salary, and I even had Zilan delegate part of the personnel review work to you.”

"So what about now? Why was it canceled?"

“This is Warfarin’s request; she wants me to be relieved of all your work. Just go to bed early and get up early every day, and focus on getting better,” Kal’tsit said. “After some consideration, I’ve approved her request. Most of your work has been taken back, but your salary hasn’t been reduced.”

Seeing that Kal'tsit had readily admitted it, Lin Ye's voice gradually turned cold: "So all I need to do is provide blood?"

Kal'tsit sighed softly: "Although I knew you would be dissatisfied, I still want to say, isn't this what you've always wanted? To do the least work and get the most money."

"When did I ever have such expectations?"

"Did I remember wrong?" Kal'tsit rested her chin on her hands, looking at Lin Ye with interest. "I remember you said that your dream was to be kept by a rich woman."

Lin Ye's lips twitched slightly.

Damn it, how did Kal'tsit know about this? She doesn't seem to be talking about it everywhere.

"So think about it from a different perspective, your wish has already come true," Kal'tsit said. "It's just that it's not a rich woman supporting you, but Rhodes Island. Of course, if you really want a rich woman to support you, then just think of me as a rich woman. Although I'm reluctant to admit it, if you think about it carefully, I'm quite wealthy. How about considering it?"

Lin Ye could hardly tell whether Kal'tsit was joking or asking seriously.

But no matter what, there was no way he could agree to such a thing, so he said, "I was joking back then, but I don't want to joke now."

“Is that so? Then I won’t joke anymore.” Kal’tsit sat up straight. “Indeed, whether from my personal point of view or from Rhodes Island’s point of view, I don’t want you to leave the island, and you should know why.”

"I know. But isn't your angle the same as Rhodes Island's?" Lin Ye couldn't help but complain.

“Of course not.” Kal'tsit shook her head. “I’m a medical scientist. From a medical scientist’s perspective, I hope that a cure for Oripathy will appear in this world. The sooner such a drug is developed, the more people can be saved. From Rhodes Island’s perspective, after Ursus cut off all cooperation with us, our drug orders have decreased by nearly a third. This is undoubtedly a serious blow to the developing Rhodes Island, so we need more orders and revenue. Once the ‘L-Potion’ is successfully developed, the benefits it can bring to Rhodes Island are unimaginable. So, from any perspective, I hope you don’t leave the island, because if something happens to you, the damage to Rhodes Island will be irreparable.”

Lin Ye had long anticipated that confronting Kal'tsit would be difficult, but he hadn't expected it to be this difficult.

He took a deep breath before saying, "I know you're right, but from my perspective, I absolutely do not want to be imprisoned on Rhodes Island."

“Why use the word ‘imprisonment’?” Kal’tsit said. “Just think of it as a normal job. If you feel like you have nothing to do, I can give the job back to you, as long as you don’t get annoyed.”

This series of punches left Lin Ye speechless, and he fell silent.

Just when Kal'tsit thought she had convinced Lin Ye, Lin Ye slowly spoke again: "I once heard a writer say that a person's value is determined by his death."